US 12,301,891 B1
Ground-based controller for selectively curating content provided by in-flight entertainment systems
Jean-Yves Couleaud, Mission Viejo, CA (US); Tracy Decuir, Yorba Linda, CA (US); and Jerry Thomas, Mission Viejo, CA (US)
Assigned to Thales Avionics, Inc., Irvine, CA (US)
Filed by Thales Avionics, Inc., Irvine, CA (US)
Filed on Apr. 8, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/377,701.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/655,558, filed on Apr. 10, 2018.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/654,930, filed on Apr. 9, 2018.
Int. Cl. H04N 21/214 (2011.01); H04N 21/258 (2011.01); H04N 21/2668 (2011.01)
CPC H04N 21/2146 (2013.01) [H04N 21/25891 (2013.01); H04N 21/2668 (2013.01)] 23 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A ground-based content controller for managing content provided by an in-flight entertainment (“IFE”) system operating on an airplane, the ground-based content controller comprising:
a ground-based content processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable medium communicatively coupled to the ground-based content controller and storing program code executable by the ground-based content processor to perform operations comprising:
retrieving information associated with a passenger of the airplane;
determining content targeting rules based on the information, the content targeting rules indicating instructions for selecting content and instructions for determining when, during a flight, to make the content available to the passenger on the airplane based on an action by a passenger during the flight;
transmitting, prior to takeoff, the content targeting rules via a radio access network to an on-board content controller operating on the airplane,
wherein transmitting the content targeting rules to the on-board content controller on the airplane comprises:
determining an amount of time before takeoff;
determining a version of the content to transmit to the IFE system prior to takeoff based on the amount of time; and
transmitting the content targeting rules and the version of the content to the IFE system prior to takeoff.